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Are Democrats afraid of crushing the Republican Party?
by shpilk @ DKos
Thu Oct 30, 2008
What is behind the fixation of the Obama campaign and Pennsylvania? Virtually every unbiased analysis shows that PA has been locked up since shortly after the nomination. I have to say I have been disappointed that there has been so little boldness shown in the Obama campaign strategy.
538 calls it as Safe Dem. There's no red at all on the right side. None. Zero. Zilch.
Why is it that a campaign on the verge of breaking out in a number of Red States been so reticent to pursue a path to break open the election, and choose a conservative and basically defensive course?
Perhaps there are elements within the Democratic Party that fear the gutting of the Republican Party, and fear the influence of a wider, more powerful single Party as a dominant influence remaining. The implication of a major shift in this country away from the right is scaring centrists in the Democratic Party, and the corporate interests they represent: maybe they do not want to see challenges to their dominance on the political scene.
Has there been pressure on the Obama campaign to 'cool it' and not go in for the total kill? Anyone who cared to look could see the massive weaknesses of not only McCain/Palin, but of the whole Republican Party nationally. Dozens of House races and quite a few Senate races could have been made within reach. The money was there, the enthusiasm was there.
Every sign is [and yes, we'll find out in a few days] we will fall short of 60 in the Senate and 290 in the House. Obama will win PA. That much I know, and he would have won it without spending so much time and money there.
What of IN, GA, NC, WV, MT, NE, MO .. and OH, NV and FL which remain as clearly in danger - of all the time spent in PA .. I have to ask - WHY? If Obama had taken the proverbial bull by the horns, he would have forced McCain to respond in IN, GA, NC, WV, MT, NE, MO\, and taken the pressure right off of OH, FL and NV.
Ed Rendell's opinion excluded, PA has never been in play, at least not in the space of time Nate's been recording the data.
So: why did the Obama campaign choose to be reactive to the McCain campaign, rather than boldly go where no campaign went before?
There have been a number of diaires recently about a third Party "rising from the ashes of the GOP". I submit this is a false analysis.
The place to look for a functional third Party is on the left, not on the right or in the center. The knock out blow of winning not only the Presidency but taking a massive lead in the House and Senate by winning races in States in the South and West could have been a reality, if there was a boldness in the national campaign.
I submit that there are forces inside the Democratic Party that don't want to kill the elephant, and the actions of the Obama campaign has been influenced by these forces. I don't think the Obama campaign is complicit in any 'tin foil' hat kind of way, but powerful I swear, it looks like centrist elements within the Democratic Party are desperate to keep the Republican Party alive.
